From Sigulda, LAT
(January 23, 2026) – Robert Balk finished out a career season in style with a dominating win to clinch his first career World Cup title.
Balk slid to an early lead ahead of Fabrizio Caselli with a downtime that was nearly matched by Corie Mapp, winner of the previous day’s event. As they had all season, Hermann Ellmauer and Jonas Frei found themselves lingering around the podium after the first heat, with Ellmauer .19 back and Frei .21 back.
In the second heat, Frei out-slid Ellmauer by enough to take over Ellmauer’s spot as the leader with just Mapp and Balk to go.
Ellmauer needed help to get onto the podium and got it in the form of an early mistake by Corie Mapp. Mapp appeared to have things under control midway through his run, but a late mistake dropped him to the tail of the field, putting Frei first and Ellmauer second with just Balk to go.
Balk’s second run was nearly as good as his first. It was the quickest of the heat and enough to slide to a .35 second victory over Frei, with Ellmauer third.
Flavio Menardi, Christopher Stewart, and Austin Parker rounded out the top six.
With his win, Balk took the season title by 52 points over Frei, with Ellmauer third. Menardi, Stewart, and Parker rounded out the top six.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Robert Balk | USA | 4 | 1.59 | 1.59 | 43.97 | 44.09 | 1:28.06 |
| 2 | Jonas Frei | SUI | 5 | 1.59 | 1.59 | 44.18 | 44.23 | 1:28.41 |
| 3 | Hermann Ellmauer | AUT | 7 | 1.59 | 1.59 | 44.16 | 44.31 | 1:28.47 |
| 4 | Flavio Menardi | ITA | 8 | 1.59 | 1.59 | 44.38 | 44.25 | 1:28.63 |
| 5 | Christopher Stewart | SUI | 9 | 1.59 | 1.59 | 44.33 | 44.38 | 1:28.71 |
| 6 | Austin Parker | USA | 14 | 1.59 | 1.59 | 44.39 | 44.42 | 1:28.81 |
| 7 | Guillermo Castillo | USA | 13 | 1.59 | 1.60 | 44.44 | 44.57 | 1:29.01 |
| 8 | Tyler Jeffries | USA | 12 | 1.59 | 1.59 | 44.62 | 44.52 | 1:29.14 |
| 9 | Doc Jacobs | USA | 11 | 1.59 | 1.59 | 44.59 | 44.77 | 1:29.36 |
| 10 | Fabrizio Caselli | ITA | 1 | 1.60 | 1.60 | 44.77 | 44.61 | 1:29.38 |
| 11 | Gabi Cha | USA | 10 | 1.59 | 1.60 | 44.72 | 44.89 | 1:29.61 |
| 12 | Gabriela Knapova | CZE | 3 | 1.59 | 1.60 | 44.89 | 44.79 | 1:29.68 |
| 13 | Corie Mapp | GBR | 6 | 1.59 | 1.59 | 44.01 | 46.21 | 1:30.22 |
| DNS | Arturs Klots | LAT | 2 | DNS |